


Oh, How She Rocks

by thegoodthebadandthenerdy



Series: Femslash Feb 2019 [11]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Crush at First Sight, F/F, Femslash February 2019, First Meetings, Singing, when all your friends are trying to set you up w the same girl and you wont listen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-26 18:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17751260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegoodthebadandthenerdy/pseuds/thegoodthebadandthenerdy
Summary: "You really thought I'd miss your first show?""You literally called me last week and said, 'Perce, I can't make it to the show, I'm so sorry,' I'm not really sure what you were expecting me to get from that?"Day 12: Beat





	Oh, How She Rocks

**Author's Note:**

> okay, confession: ive been trying ti write this fic for over a year kgjsjf it was an idea i came up w LAST femslash feb but didnt get to so i just let it simmer but honestly im rlly happy i waited bc this came out So Good
> 
> title and lyrics are from teenage dirtbag by wheatus BUT this is strictly an amy shark's cover of teenage dirtbag household so listen to tht version for the absolute Mood

The place is laced in an eye-crossing haze. Not smoke, if the no smoking/vaping/whatever else you can come up with sign in the window is to be believed, so something else.

The bell above the door chimes when Piper pushes through it, an offkey sound that makes her huff the smallest laugh. It's about as out of place as she feels.

She combs her way through vacant seats, nodding in greeting to the woman behind the bar drying off a beer glass as she goes, and makes her way over to the stage where a man sits alone.

His legs are dangling off the edge, clad in the same jeans she's been looking at since high school. Thankfully, his t-shirt is new - all black with a thinly lined, white emblem on it.

"Perce!" she calls excitedly, causing him to snap his head up from where he's tapping incessantly at him phone, lips pulled into a devastating pout. 

It takes a second for him to register her face, but when he does he discards his phone in favor of slipping his arms around her waist and spinning her. "I thought you said you couldn't make it?" he asks with the same amount of enthusiasm as one would employ for say, an all you can eat buffet.

"You really thought I'd miss your first show?"

"You literally called me last week and said, 'Perce, I can't make it to the show, I'm so sorry,' I'm not really sure what you were expecting me to get fron that?"

Pursing her lips, Piper replies, "Okay, yeah. But that's not the point! The point is I'm in town for the night and an undetermined amount of hours tomorrow depending on if my drinks go on your tab or mine, and you're a rockstar with a band I've never met."

"You've met Jason, though."

"Percy, can you just work with me here?"

He grins at her, that grin from when they were fourteen and about to do something stupid. It dimples his olive cheeks and practically pulls a sparkle from his unaligned teeth. God, she's missed him.

"It's just me an Jace here right now, but you'll meet the girls after the set."

Something about they way he says it makes Piper think it's not going to be that simple.

》》》

For years before Percy officially got his band together, he had a setup in the corner of Piper's garage because it was the only place he could consistently leave his stuff set up. Still, Piper had learned how to hook everything up over time, so it was no surprise she was drafted to help set up when their keyboardist called and said she and the drummer were running late because of some school thing Percy didn't really get into.

Not that she'd ever say it, but she's kind of glad. The routine of it, from untangling wires, to bickering with Percy, takes her back to - as cliche as it to say - simpler times. Since graduation and splitting off to two totally different colleges, they haven't really gotten a ton of time together, and though she'd never admitted it, she's missed him like hell.

So she takes her time, nimble fingers undoing what looks like months of damage to the cords, making sure everything's plugged in just right as she listens to the fond banter of Percy and Jason.

"Hey, Piper, you used to play, right?" the blond asks once he's done his part, holding up his wicked yellow bass in question.

"Oh, I see how it is," Percy says, coming up beside him. 

"Dude," Jason starts, a hand going to the back of Percy's neck. "I need to test the amp, you know it's been acting up, and I want to be a good host, too."

"Dude," Percy repeats, a hand sliding up Jason's warm-under-the-stage-lights cheek. "You never let even me hold your guitar, you're just a suckup."

They burst into the same blinding grin at the exact same time, Jason's shifting his glasses up his nose, while Percy's preludes a sly laugh.

"You two are so gross," Piper says with a little sister style pinched face as she grabs the instrument from Jason's outstretched hand. 

" _You're_ gross," Percy shoots back.

"I'll come over there, Jackson. Do you want me to cone over there?" she asks as she slips the lightning bolt embroidered strap over her shoulder. 

"Oh my god, don't make me turn this car around," Jason says, his voice bordering on sing-song.

Percy's voice is light when he says, "I hate you."

Piper fake gags when Jason replies, "Weird, I guess you can make your own breakfast and kiss your own forehead in the mornings, then."

"So, Piper," Percy starts after cutting his eyes at Jason thoroughly. "Your love life?"

She obliges him in the conversation change if only so they won't delve any deeper as to what they get up to on their own time as she adjusts her fingers over the strings. "Stagnate, which I'm good with."

"Weren't you dating that one girl, uh, shit what was her name?" Jason asks as he snaps his fingers quickly. "The waitress?"

"Oh, yeah, that did _not_ end well," she says, finally catching up to what he's trying to say. "Yeah, I actually can't go back to that place?"

Percy, "Whoa, what?"

Jason, "Like, legally?"

"The owner asked me not to after I tried to fight that guy in the parking lot, y'know?"

"Actually, I don't know-"

"Care to clue me in?"

She rolls her eyes at their finish-each-others-sentences shtick, plucking out a few notes that reverberate comfortably around the bar. "No. And then, of course, there was the girl I crushed on for four months, only to find out she had like, not only a girlfriend, but the perfect relationship."

"Yikes."

"Yeah, so I'm kinda like, taking a break from dating, I guess? Drew keeps trying to set me up with one of Calypso's friends' friends, who might also be the girl that Silena's girlfriend - Percy, you remember Clarisse? They're dating now - anyway, she might also be the girl that Clarisse is trying to set me up with, but I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. They said she's like, this architecture student, or something, I think?" She shrugs, finding her place again in the notes she'd been looking for.

"Hey- no Stairway to Heaven," Percy says, even though he knows good and well it's not what she's playing. Still, the joke makes her grin. Just like old times.

"So both of your sisters are trying to set you up with the same girl, and you don't think maybe it's a good idea?" Jason asks, her eyebrows drawn up into his forehead as he crosses his arms over his chest lazily. Thick black lines flash from the inside of his forearm, and she cocks a brow, saving that for later.

"No, one sister and the other sister's girlfriend. Silena doesn't meddle anymore. But to answer your question, I guess it's just- like okay, if it works out then they get to lord that over me for however long, but if it _doesn't_ , then it's a whole thing, right? And I don't know if I'm really looking for anything serious- nope, that's a lie, and I'm only calling myself on it so you two can't."

Percy makes a little popping sound with his lips, copying Jason's pose subconsciously, it seems. She studies the sweeping black lines on _his_ arms, wrist to elbow, and remembers when they used to draw those in with ballpoint pens at the kitchen table while Sally pretended not to notice.

She fiddles nervously now, her fingers resetting once more to a more comfortable song. "You remember this one, Perce?" she asks, eyes flashing up to meet his.

A slow smile creeps up his lips, a laugh following up his throat as his hand grips the back of his neck. " _Her name is Noelle,_ " he repeats from days long gone, and suddenly Piper is sixteen again, in her cold-no-matter-the-season garage trying to teach the both of them how to read sheet music. 

" _I have a dream about her,_ " Piper replies, her voice still as rough as it was back then. It's matured a bit, she thinks, but the huskiness remains. She should've stayed in the band.

Jason looks between them with a fond kind of smile, blue eyes easy behind his dad glasses. She can't help but tease him.

"You're lucky I decided to leave the fame and glory behind for a quiet, New England college, lover boy," she jokes as she pulls the chords from the chorus out, Percy humming quietly along.

"Your shoes were hard to fill, but I think they look pretty cute," he shoots back as he bats his eyelashes overzealously at her, tugging a snort from the deep recesses of her chest.

After that he fiddles a bit with the amp while she and Percy riff off of one another, trading one 2000s grunge song for another, all the way through the list of songs they used to blast in her Jeep every morning on the way to school and every afternoon on the way home while Drew whined from the backseat, wishing she'd caught a ride with Silena and Clarisse instead. 

Being here with him feels like home. She can't wait for it to always feel like this.

There's a crash from the back that pulls the trios attention, another few bangs and then a girl with wreaths of orange hair tied out of her face with a bandana appears. She's wearing a fringe vest that plays connect the dots with all the freckles that sprinkle her thighs. Under her arm is shoved a long keyboard that's battered and encased within layers of fading stickers, most of which seem to be homemade.

Piper knows instantly she must be Rachel. From what she understands, she and Percy met in a park after a run in with a particularly aggressive goose, and they've been fused at the hip ever since. That, and she designed their logo while drunk off her ass at 2am on Wednesday. She's the kind of girl Piper thinks she could definitely be friends with if given five minutes.

"I know we're cutting it close," she calls, smacking past them in her hastily applied flip-flops. "But we're here, so you can't say shit."

"I'm not the best with numbers, but I'm only seeing one of the two people that should be here," Percy clucks, moving to deftly grab the end of her keyboard when she almost smashes it on the ground. She shoots him a thankful smile, and Piper wonders if it's routine.

"Cool it, Seaweed Brain, I brought you a croissant. You and Jason are gonna have to share, though, they only had three."

Piper inhales quietly when she sees her, a shaky exhale following it when she realizes she's not rotating the air fast enough.

She's- There's no perfect way to start. Her hair is bunched up on her head, thick blonde waves all tugged back into a mighty bun that gives the perfect view of the graying strands at her hairline. It's somehow a perfect contrast, yet easy compliment to the natural tan of her skin and flintlock gray eyes.

Her face is bare of makeup, instead comprised of a lifetime of weathering, from childhood scars to acne marks, to a slight gap between her front teeth when she smiles, rosy pink lips glowing.

She bears the same t-shirt as Percy, though hers is a soft heather gray, and the sleeves have been sheered, leaving behind a tattered seam that sprouts shooting thread to brush at the beginnings of starkly defined muscles. Piper's a goner.

"Annabeth, Rach, this's Piper," Percy says amicably, but the grin on his face as he looks at Piper, it's anything but. She's gonna kill him.

"Oh, god, hi!" Rachel squawks, her hands moving around her head in a quick frenzy. "Sorry, today's been, y'know, a day- but it's so good to finally meet you! Percy's told us so much about you."

She wraps her up in a hug before she can even respond, but Piper doesn't protest. She smells like wildflowers and hugs like she's known her her whole life.

"Hi," Annabeth adds once Rachel lets her go, her face softening as she extends a hand. It's warm and heavy in Piper's own, with a firm grip, and a way about it that lingers even after she's gone. Her eyes do, too, steady on Piper's features for a long second. 

Piper's _soul_ gulps.

"Hi," she manages out nicely enough, not giving away the thunder of her heart, at least. Except to Percy, who she thinks has her bugged for these kinds of things. 

"I was just asking Piper if she wants to close out the show with us," Percy interjects, and oh, oh is Piper going to kill him. Jason shoots him a small look, but he holds up one finger from where the rest are held over her forearm, a gesture the other two girls don't see - but Piper _does_ \- and the blond relents.

"So you've finally decided on our closer, then?" Annabeth asks, but her eyes are still on Piper. even if they flick away when she gets caught, they keep coming back.

"Actually, it was Piper that helped me figure it out."

"Oh, absolutely not, Percy," she says automatically, tugging her eyes from where she's looking just over Annabeth's shoulder. 

"Come _on_ , people'll love it."

"What is it?" Rachel asks, guilty curiosity ringing in her voice as she shoots Piper an apologetic shrug.

"We used to do Teenage Dirtbag, back when it was just Pipes and I, but _I_ think she and Annabeth should duet it tonight, it'd bring down the house."

"I'm usually building those, but I'll make the exception," Annabeth says without a second thought as she plops down on the stool behind her kit.

Piper's mind rolls in quick succession. Pretty girl that's just her type, building, Clarisse and Percy's weird, friendly rivalry. 

"Architecture?" she asks the blonde.

She beams, a grin that instantly changes her face into something interactive and magnificent as she rests her elbows on her wide thighs and her cheeks in her hands. "How'd you know?"

"Percy must've mentioned it," she replies, sending him her best death glare. He's dead. "But you know what? Screw it, let's do it."

She and Percy lock eyes, but it's not enough to shake her. This is what he wanted, after all. 

"Well let's get in a bit of rehearsal, yeah?" Rachel interjects. "And Piper, you're more than welcome to sit with my girlfriend while we do the rest of our set. She'll love you."

《《《

Turns out that once upon a time, Piper had wanted Rachel's girlfriend to love her. Luckily, that passed, and was just run over by the Annabus for good measure.

Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano is a six foot tall goddess/machine that does shotput for Piper's encroaching alma mater. They're sort of friends, having a couple classes together, and usually being around one another at the track and field events when Piper runs. 

But honestly, Piper wasn't even sure she'd know who she was. Sadly, Reyna is perfectly kind and lights up when Piper sits down beside her.

"I can't believe I didn't put together that you're Percy's Piper," she says around the straw of her mixed drink, a glass filled with smudging layers of bright colors.

"Not like I claim him to just anyone," she jokes, the tension leaking from her shoulders. It's not that awkward, actually. Her heart doesn't flutter when Reyna rolls the straw between her teeth, her breath doesn't hitch when she's tacked down by her compelling as ever eyes. She appreciates Reyna aesthetically and personally, but she's kind of super over her.

"So, like, tell me if it's none of my business, but I was talking to Rachel before their set and she said you were gonna help them close it down, but I thought Percy said the reason you didn't stay with the band was because you weren't a fan of the spotlight? I can totally kick his ass if you need me to."

Piper grins, her fingers slipping lazily down her sweaty bottle of beer. "I'm not, not really. But he's pretty convincing, when he wants to be."

Reyna hums. "Or is it Annabeth that's so convincing?" 

"Oh, we just met like an hour ago-"

"That's not what I'm talking about," Reyna says around her straw, plum-painted lips tugging. "And you know it."

Piper groans.

"Please just tell me if she's straight, or seeing someone, or specifically just not into girls named Piper because I'll probably do something stupid tonight, and of any of those answers aren't in my favor I can switch over to like, stealing a street sign or something." She takes a nervous swig off her bottle, letting the cold glass linger against her Crest white smile. 

"You know those are-" 

"A lot bigger than they look-" Piper adds, setting her bottle down on the coaster in front of her as Percy's voice slows down behind them for their next song.

" _Right_?" Reyna finishes, laughing lightly. "But to answer your questions: she's got a bi pride flag on her drum kit, she's Facebook official single, and it's never come up, but I _suppose_ …."

Piper pushes at her shoulder jokingly. "You're the worst."

"Nah, she saw a picture of you and Percy on his Instagram - his birthday post for you, I think? - and she totally flipped. I've never seen her more disappointed than when she found out you don't have any social media."

A slow smile spreads across her face like room temp butter on hot toast. First, not at all, then it seeps into her very core all at once.

"That plan you don't want to admit you were working on gonna work after all?" Reyna asks.

"Maybe."

》》》

"For our final song," Percy says, brushing sweaty hair back from his forehead into something unfairly stylish. "We've got an extra special guest that even _I_ can't believe has agreed to this."

Piper pushes her chair back, her limbs moving fluidly, her head not humming, but not full of her previous worries. Reyna shoots her an enthusiastic thumbs up before she can make it to the stage.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and patrons-" Annabeth taps out a quick drumroll, a cymbal crashing as he announces, "Piper McLean!" 

There's a shuffling of microphones, Jason and Percy ending up sharing one so she, Annabeth, and Rachel all have their own.

"It's been a long time since I've been on one of these," she says, gesturing at the stage. "But let's see if I've still got it! Annabeth, you wanna count us in?"

Annabeth gives her another one of those grins, this time accompanied by flushed cheeks and a heavier breath than before, and obliges.

Piper lets the beat find her, lets it slink through her muscles as she bobs - awkward at first, until she finds it, that sweet spot with her eyes closed and her voice sure.

_"Her name is Noelle,_

_I have a dream about her."_

It's just her, Annabeth's drum beat, and a little help from Jason's bass to keep them steady. The crowd erupts once they recognize the lyrics, a lone hoot sounding even from Reyna.

She spins, grinning as wide as she can while still keeping her voice.

_"She rings my bell,_

_Got gym class in_ half _an hour-_

_Oh, how she rocks,_

_In Keds and tube socks."_

She can't say she means to find Annabeth's eyes as she goes for the next lyric, but to call it a mistake would be lying. She's leaned over her drums, leg bouncing and voice clear through the mic as she adds in her own vocals. They sound so good together.

" _But she doesn't know who I am."_

Piper wants to know her- wants her to want to know her, too.

" _And she doesn't give a damn a-bout me-_ sing!"

She's alive with the sound of the whole bar chorusing right along beside her, dozens of voice sounds like a hundred sounding like thousands. She's never doubted her choice not to follow the band, still doesn't now, but she can feel the appeal thrumming in her veins. This is magic, pure magic.

She finds herself, finds an assuredness as the second verse comes. She moves around, taking what she can from the stage, from sharing silly moves with Rachel while _he'd simply kick, my ass if he knew the truth_ to injecting herself in the space between her boys to sing about the dick with the Iroc.

The crowd is eating it up, and she can't blame them, not for this. The chorus starts back up, bleeds into the bridge, and then she's alone on prom night.

Maybe it's the feeling of being so stitched together, or maybe the two beers she had on an empty stomach, but she finds Annabeth, seeks her out for the third verse.

She and Annabeth lock eyes, brown to gray, and she swears Annabeth smiles as she holds the beat in her hands, Jason's sounds bowing out.

And Annabeth sings, these the only lines by herself, _"She's walkin' over to me. This must be fake, my lips start to shake. How does she know who I am? And why does she give a damn about me_?"

Piper picks it up easily, this the culmination of her night. Her something stupid.

She trails around the side of her glistening black kit and leans in, close enough to be playful, yet even closer to let her know she means it. Somehow, some way, she means it. Annabeth just laughs, one that's just for her.

" _Got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby. Come with me Friday-_ don't _say maybe._ "

Annabeth whips her head to the side to fully meet her eyes. She represses her smile for a split second, long enough to drop a kiss to her nose before she turns back to her mic.

And then it's all five of them, all five slotted together to finish out the song with the audience, shouting along to words that had once been her life and are now the fondest of memories.

《《《

Piper is helping the bartender pick up loose bottles and cups and the like while she waits for Percy and his merry band to finish packing up. Reyna was there to do most of the heavy lifting, so she hadn't really been needed.

But she'd had to do something. Her skin was electric, and sitting still while waiting so they could all go find something to eat would've been torture.

"Thank you for the help, but I've got it from here." the bartender says abruptly, and Piper looks over at her with a frown. Her nametag - which reads Zoë - is eskew, and her long braid is tired after the night, but her face looks insistent as she nods her head to someone Piper hasn't noticed yet.

She turns quickly, finding herself with an eyeful of now-loose waves.

"Hi," Annabeth greets, her voice washed out from their set, but no less pleasant.

"Hi."

It's not as much as they said in rehearsal to one another - that had been all jokes and acting as if they'd known one another for years - but somehow it feels like the most substantial thing they've said all night.

"Before you say anything," Piper starts. "I just want to say that I'm moving. Here. In about six weeks - that was why I came here tonight, actually, to tell Percy."

Annabeth grins. "Was?" she repeats.

"What?"

"You said it _was_ why you came tonight. What changed?"

"This really hot drummer walked in unexpectedly and gave me half her croissant. I'd like to pay her back- maybe dinner, when I'm back for good?"

"I think that can be arranged. If, of course, she can ever score your number like she's been try to do for months."

"I think that can be arranged," she repeats. "If, of course, I can get a redo on that kiss. I think you missed."

With a huffy laugh, Annabeth slips her hands over Piper's cheeks and pulls her in for the kind of kiss that makes the bottom drop of out of her stomach, her knees wobble, and her lips ache before she ever even nips at them.

There's a lone whistle, then another, a smattering of clapping, and then Percy's jovial voice calling out, "Drew _and_ Clarisse owe me twenty bucks!"

Piper steals one last peck, a promise of more to come before she responds.

"You want me to come over there, Jackson?" she shouts.

"Take it to fund your first date, then!" 

Before she can even blink, he's gone from her vision, the only thing left in his wake being Jason shaking out the palm he'd been holding. As his action registers, all Piper can hear is the sound of three quarters of a damn good band (+ one daydream world ex) laughing in tandem.

She can't wait until it feels like this all the time.

**Author's Note:**

> im on tumblr @wlwshehulk !!!!


End file.
